THE TRUE LEMURS. 65 



The external coloration of the species of this Sub-family is 

 remarkably variable, the variation being chiefly in the upper 

 portion of the hairs, as their base is generally slate-grey. 



The sub-family Le7nurince embraces four genera : the True 

 Lemurs (Lemur), of which there are now eight recognised 

 species ; the Hattock {Mixocebus), with a solitary species ; the 

 Gentle-Lemurs (Hapalemur)^ containing two species, and the 

 Sportive-Lemurs {Lepidokmur), with seven species. Some of 

 the most elegantly coloured species in the Animal Kingdom 

 belong to this group. They are gregarious, and most of them 

 arboreal, though some are not so. They form rather an 

 exception to the general rule among Lemurs, in not being 

 nocturnal. They feed during the morning and evening, 

 emitting loud cries as they move about, and during the heat of 

 the day, they often lie stretched out in the sun ; at night they 

 rest with their long tails coiled about them. In their mode of 

 progression they are more quadrupedal than most of the other 

 Lemuroids ; they jump, walk, or run on all fours. Their food 

 consists of fruits, birds' eggs, birds and insects. Their infants 

 are carried about close to, and concealed amid, the hair of 

 their mother's breast ; when older they cling to her back. 



The True Lemurs are all inhabitants of Madagascar and of 

 the adjacent Comoro Islands. They ar^ unknown on the 

 African continent. 



THE TRUE LEMURS. GENUS LEMUR. 

 Prosimia, Brisson, Regn. Anim., p. 220(1756). 

 Lemur, Linn., Syst. Nat., i., p. 44 (1766). 

 Varecia, Gray, P. Z. S., 1863, p. 135. 



This genus contains the typical Lemurs, in their most 

 restricted sense. They are characterised by having a very 

 3— v. I M 



